The Mt. Hope High School boys' soccer team's dream season came to a nightmarish end Friday afternoon, Nov. 1, after the top-seeded Huskies were upset on penalty kicks in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Division II championship tournament by visiting and eighth-seeded St. Raphael Academy.

The Saints advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 victory, 4-3 on PKs. St. Ray's heads to Johnston High Thursday night, Nov. 7, to face another upset winner and fellow Pawtucket side Shea. The fifth-seeded Raiders beat fourth-seeded Chariho, 2-0, on the road in their quarter.

The other half of the bracket held. Second-seeded Lincoln smashed seventh-seeded Smithfield, 4-1, while third-seeded East Greenwich shut out sixth-seeded North Providence, 3-0.

The Lions and Avengers also meet in the semis November 7 in Lincoln. The D-II title game is set for Rhode Island College Sunday, Nov. 10, at 2:30 p.m.

For Mt. Hope, which began the fall on an 11-game unbeaten run after not winning game the year before in Division I, its 2024 campaign to a quicker than expected close with an 11-3-3 overall record, including the stunning playoff setback.

"I thought we played a good game, but it just came down to not finishing all of our chances and it really came down to two mistakes that cost us the game," Mt. Hope head coach Tucker Shepard said of a pair of defensive miscues his Huskies committed, which allowed the Saints to the tie the game twice in regulation.

The four goals in regular time each play out similarly for both sides. Mt. Hope's came off corners while the Saints' were off free kicks.

Aidan Pereira initially put the locals in front with a header off an Aidan Hudak cornerkick in just the ninth minute of the game. The Saints, however, found an answer in the 33rd off a long freebie and poor marking by the locals.

The same held true in the second half. Two minutes out of intermission, Hudak's corner was touched first by Mohsin Khan towards the far post where Diego Gonzalez was waiting to drive it in for the go-ahead tally. Again, though, St. Ray's eventually found a response, doing so in the 70th minute of 80 off another free kick from distance and from the left side of the pitch.

The teams then played a pair of scoreless, five-minute overtime periods and into penalties. The Saints saved the Huskies' first try and made their's. Mt. Hope's Cole Tavares stopped the second SRA try, but the locals' next attempt hit the crossbar. The Huskies did make their next three as Lucas Andreozzi, Tom Loiselle and Maddox Canario were on target. However, up one, the Saints did likewise with Michael Riera converting their fourth PK for the match-winner.

"As far as the PKs go, it just wasn’t our night," Shepard added. "(St. Raphael) took great PKs and there was nothing our goalie could do about them."

The victory by the Saints avenged a 4-2 loss to the Huskies back on October 1. In that game as well, Mt. Hope dominated for much of the match, only to have St. Ray's make things a bit more interesting than necessary with a couple of late goals.

Last week, the Huskies held at least a 70-30 edge in possession during the first half, including a game-starting stretch when the Saints barely had the ball over midfield for the better part of opening 15 minutes.

In the second half, Mt. Hope remained on the front foot especially early, almost too far in front actually. The Huskies got caught well up the pitch in the 49th minute, leading to a St. Ray's 2-v-1 break. The subsequent shot beat a diving Tavares to his right, but clanged off the post.

— East Bay Media Group and eastbayri.com contributing photographer Julie Furtado shot the accompanying gallery of photos.